The Case
by Michele0612
Summary: Two years after Joey left she comes back to the Bay on a mission, but she's changed. Will she and Charlie get a chance at a happy ending? And why is it now Joey Matthews instead of Collins? A Charlie/Joey story. -- On an indefinite hiatus --
1. Chapter 1

_This is my first fic so tell me what you think_

Chapter 1

Joey stood on the porch of her house looking at the ocean. It really was a beautiful view and one she had missed dearly. She had been living in the city for the past year and a half and it had been a while since she had been able to enjoy the quiet of the water. But still she couldn't seem to get herself to relax enough to fully enjoy it. That was understandable she guessed. It was going to be a stressful day. The question was exactly how stressful?

She sighed. She had brought it upon herself. She could have said no. She had enough influence to be able to decline and even if she didn't have the influence she was good at what she did and they would think twice before firing her. But she hadn't used her influence nor did she say no and she knew why. She was finally ready and strong enough to face her past, to stand up for herself and she had missed her friends dearly. Though she had only kept in touch with Aden she still found herself thinking often about Leah, VJ, Ruby and of course Charlie. She had tried to stop thinking about Charlie but she had never completely succeeded and that was okay because one day she would and maybe after she had faced her demons she would finally be ready to move on completely.

She grinned as she wondered how they would all react to the new her because she had changed quite a lot over those two years. She wasn't the same Josephine 'Joey' Collins anymore. In fact she wasn't a Collins at all. Now she was Josephine 'Joey' Matthews and with the new name came a new attitude, a new career and a new look. She was certain everybody was going to be surprised and that was putting it mildly. She hadn't even told Aden about the career and name change. She had wanted to wait and tell him herself and today was the day she would get the change to do just that. But right now she had to get dressed and hurry to her appointment. After all the head of the police department expected detective Matthews at his office in an hour.

An hour later Joey was sitting opposite McGrath wearing long white pants, high heels and a blue shirt. She hadn't exactly dressed as a tough detective and McGrath was watching her intently. Joey didn't let it bother her. She knew she wasn't what he expected at all. She was certain he had read her file which was quite impressive even if she did say so herself and had imagined some sort of Xena instead of her. But she knew her looks were apparently deceiving and she often used that to her advantage. More times than she cared to count there was some cocky man that thought they could kick her ass without even trying and they had always been wrong and had paid for it dearly.

"Well detective Matthews, you know as well as I do that this meeting is a bit useless seeing as I have no choice but to let you work with my officers so let's skip the formalities. I realize you just got in town yesterday evening and are still settling in so I suggest that I wait with introducing you until tomorrow so you can use today to get settled," McGrath said in a no nonsense manner which was quite intimidating.

"I would appreciate that sir. I'll be glad to start first thing tomorrow. I promise I'll go easy on them in the beginning," Joey answered smiling sweetly.

McGrath chuckled. Even though she wasn't what he had expected. He liked her. She hadn't looked away or gotten nervous when he was studying her and she hadn't flinched when he spoke in his most intimidating tone.

"Very well detective. Off you go then. Enjoy your day off."

"I will sir. Thank you."

A half an hour later Joey pulls her dark blue Volkswagen Eos into the parking lot of the diner. She's nervous again, but she does her best to ignore it and walks confidently into the diner which is quite busy seeing as it is already lunchtime. She grins when she sees Leah behind the counter taking people's orders. She goes to stand at the end of the line and waits patiently till it's her turn. A little over five minutes later Leah asks her without looking up:

"Hi, What can I get you?"

"Hmm, some of that world famous lasagna would be great," Joey answered with a huge grin on her face. Leah who thought the voice sounded vaguely familiar finally looked up. Her eyes went wide with shock and surprise and her mouth fell open which caused Joey's grin to get even bigger at the sight. She chuckled.

"What no hug for an old friend?"

Leah snapped out of her stupor and hurried out from behind the counter.

"Joey! It's been so long I almost didn't recognize you! you've changed so much but it's good to see you though! You look great! When did you get here? Where are you staying? How long are you staying?" Leah exclaimed excitedly while hugging Joey tight to her.

"Whoa! Calm down! I just got here yesterday and I've got a place to stay don't worry about that. I am staying but I don't know for how long. It kind of depends. And it's good to see you too! I've missed you guys. How's VJ doing?"

"He's doing great. He's missed you though so I'm sure he's going to want to see you. Maybe you could come and visit some time? Or come over for dinner or something?" Leah asked because she was a little disappointed that Joey wouldn't stay with them. Sure two years ago Charlie had to convince her to allow Joey to stay but it turned out great. VJ loved her, Ruby loved her, she was a good cook and she made Charlie incredibly happy. All in all having Joey around had been a good thing.

"Sure that would be great. I've missed him too."

Colleen passed by them while muttering something about Leah not helping out which caused Leah to grin sheepishly at Joey.

"Sorry but I'm going to have to get back to work."

"That's okay. Just don't forget about my lasagna," Joey answered, winked and went to sit at one of the tables.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hi thank you so much for the reviews! Apparently I really like getting those :)_

_funkyshaz57: I hope it becomes a little less weird by reading this chapter and knowing how Joey became a cop and as for her feelings for Charlie it's going to take a while before that becomes clear._

_paulinemcc: I'm going to try and keep Joey in character as much as I can because I like her character. Let's just hope I succeed... Angelo is still going to be around but not as a love interest for Charlie so they didn't get together after Joey left._

_Shyrie: Here's the next update :)_

Chapter 2

When Joey was busy gobbling down her lasagna Aden walked in.

"Hey, Leah."

"Hi Aden what can I get you?"

"Just a coffee please. I'm supposed to be meeting Morag here. Have you seen her?"

"No I haven't seen her, but I have seen an other friend of yours."

"Really? Who?" Aden asked puzzled.

Leah answered by pointing in Joey's direction. When he spotted Joey Aden's eyes went wide with surprise. Sporting a huge grin he walked over to her table and when she still didn't notice him he said in his most flirtatious tone:

"What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?"

Joey grinned jumped up and before her lips touched his cheek she whispered:

"Stealing a kiss."

Aden hugged her tightly to him while chuckling. This was what he had missed most about Joey her cheeky sense of humor.

"You came all the way to Summer Bay to steal a kiss?" he asked still smiling sitting down opposite her.

"Yes, but I think I'm going to have to keep looking to make it worth the trip," she replied giving him a mischievous smile.

"Auwtch, talk about wounding my ego. You're going to tell me that wasn't the best kiss of your life?"

"Sorry hun, you're just not my type."

"What's wrong with me then?"

"Well let's see… You're not capable of multitasking, you don't talk enough about your feelings and you wouldn't look good in a dress."

Aden laughed.

"Thank God for that."

"I agree, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't wan tot see you in a dress some time."

"Ha only in your dreams Jo. Only in your dreams. So how have you been?"

"I'm sorry to disappoint you Aden but I don't dream of you. And I've been good, been doing my job and living in the city. And you?"

"I'm fine Jo. It took me some time but I'm good now. Nice job, good friends and all in all in the right state of mind. So…" Aden trailed off when he was interrupted by a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Morag and jumped up to hug her.

"Hi Morag."

"Aden. Am I interrupting something?"

"No of course not. Morag meet Joey she's an old friend who just got back."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you," Joey said with a polite smile while shaking Morag's hand.

"You too Joey. May I join you two?"

"Sure."

"So how's everything? Ross?" Aden asked once they sat down.

"Everything's good. Ross is great! He's gone by to see Charlie and Ruby so he couldn't be better."

Aden cringed a little and watched Joey's reaction from the corner of his eye but was surprised to see that she didn't react at all. Her smile stayed and hadn't even wavered an inch.

"So Joey, how do you know young Aden here? An ex girlfriend perhaps?" Morag asked curiously and slightly teasing.

"We used to work on the same boat together. And God no. We've already established Aden couldn't be farther from my type."

"Oh really? And what's wrong with Aden? I thought he was a rather handsome young man." Morag said still teasing Aden.

Aden blushed and muttered: "I don't look good in a dress."

Now Morag looked absolutely puzzled which caused Aden to laugh and Joey to chuckle.

"Aden stop confusing the woman! I'm gay that's why Aden isn't exactly my type.

Comprehension dawned then.

"Ooh, that explains it. You couldn't have put it more eloquently Aden? I should put you in a dress just for confusing me."

Aden looked horrified because he actually believed that if she really wanted him in a dress she would find a way to make it happen.

"So Joey do you still work on boats?" Morag asked.

"No, I stopped about a year and a half ago," Joey replied.

"I didn't know that Jo. You've never mentioned it in your letters. What do you do now then?" Aden asked truly surprised Joey had stopped working on boats because he remembered it was what she loved doing the most.

"Euh well I'm kind of a detective now," Joey mumbled blushing. Aden's eyes widened in shock and he was speechless for a moment.

"So you'll be working with the local police on a case then?" Morag asked seeing as Aden was still gaping at Joey in shock.

"Not exactly on a case. I was requested to work with the locals here to improve their skills as policemen." Joey answered.

"You'll get to meet Charlie then, that's my husband's daughter, she's a police officer too. And wait you were requested and not ordered?"

When Morag mentioned Charlie Aden seemed to snap out of his stupor and studied Joey's reaction again. And again her expression didn't change at all. She must be over her then he thought. But then again it had been two years so it wasn't abnormal that Joey would have moved on.

"Actually I have already met Charlie and yes requested my name kind of opens some doors for me." Joey answered.

"Your name? What doors does the name Collins open? Or did you not tell me something about your family," Aden asked confused yet again.

"It's not Collins anymore it's Matthews these days," Joey answered and again Aden's eyes went wide with shock. She goes by Matthews now? Did she change her name or, or did she get married. The last thought seemed more logical but seeing as gay marriage wasn't exactly legal it would mean that Joey was married to a man?

"You're married?" Aden stuttered.

"What? No! I was adopted."

"You wouldn't happen to be adopted by Helen Matthews now would you?" Morag asked thinking about the very rich and powerful widow that had died a couple of months ago.

"Yes, Helen Matthews adopted me."

"Ahh," Morag said when realization dawned on her. "That would make you Josephine Matthews heir of the Matthews fortune."

Joey nodded and said: "Yes but I still prefer Joey."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute! You're telling me that you're now an heir to a fortune because some lady adopted you and you still became a detective? Why on earth would you want to work if you're already rich" Aden asked disbelief lacing his words.

"Cause I wanted to make a difference."

"And why did you become a cop? I mean it's not like you've shown an interest in being a cop before."

"I know but it's a series of events that lead up to me becoming a cop. It's not

something I thought about before but as it turned out I'm kind of good at it

and I liked doing it so it made sense." Joey shrugged like it wasn't a big deal that she did a 180 concerning her career, but to her it just wasn't a big deal. You should do what you like doing and what you're good at doing no matter what it might be and what people might think of it.

"And how did you even meet someone who's rich let alone have her adopt you?" He continued his questioning.

Joey smiled and started explaining: "Well, after 3 months on the trawler I came back to the Bay only to jump on the next boat leaving and after I spend another 3 weeks at sea I got off in the city. I had made quite a bit of money and decided to deposit it with a bank only to end up in a hostage situation. At first I thought it was just a normal bank robbery that they were after money and would leave as soon as they had their hands on it, but I was wrong. They weren't after the money from the bank at all. Apparently they wanted to kidnap Helen Matthews so that they could trade her."

"Wait, if they did want money after all why didn't they just rob the bank?" Aden interrupted.

"Because Helen Matthews was worth way more than the bank had stored in the vault. So they wanted to kidnap her but well I couldn't just stand by and let them take her. They didn't look like the kind that would just drop her off safely after they had gotten their money you know so I tried to stop them and I succeeded, sort of. I stalled them long enough for the police to arrive and surround the building. I did however get shot in the side for my efforts which caused me to black out for a while and when I finally regained consciousness I decided to play dead and pretend I was still out cold. At that point the three bad guys started to panic and turn on each other. One of the men wanted to turn himself in and was shot and killed by his very aggressive partner in crime which left only two more men and ended the argument rather abruptly. The bigger, less aggressive guy was standing with his back toward me and when they threatened to shoot one of the hostages because she was having a panic attack I pounced. I jumped on the bigger guys back and tried to get his gun. The aggressive guy panicked and shot his bigger friend after which I was able to get the gun. Unfortunately the guy noticed and hid behind Helen Matthews while shooting at me. All the bullets missed me and I ducked behind a desk for cover. Then the guy starts threatening that if I don't come out from behind the desk he's going to shoot her. Since I didn't really have any other choice I came out from behind the desk gun still in hand. The guy grinned evilly at me, told me that was a dumb move and aimed for me. Helen who had anticipated this bit him in the arm which caused him to miss me and release her. After which he aimed the gun at Helen and I shot him. He dropped down dead and I promptly fainted only to wake up two days later with a headache and a very sore side and Helen Matthews sitting at my bedside."

"Wow," Aden breathed stunned that his friend went trough all that and was brave enough to keep her cool in such a hostile situation.

"Yeah," Joey replied.

"I remember reading about that. The papers were all over it and when you joined the police they got even more interested. It was very brave of you to react like that in that kind of situation. But it doesn't really explain why Helen Matthews adopted you," Morag stated.

"No it doesn't, but Helen was very grateful after that saying I had saved her life and she wanted to repay me so when she found out I didn't have a place to stay yet she invited me to stay at her mansion and when the detective on the case told me I'd make a good officer Helen encouraged me to try and supported me in every way possible. We became close friends and relied on each other. She was like a second mother or the very modern grandmother I never had. After living with her for eight months they found out she had cancer and she had to undergo surgery and chemotherapy. I wanted to quit so that I could take care of her but Helen ordered me not to cause she said it made me happy and she wanted to see me happy. That was when she told me she wanted to adopt me so that if something were to happen to her everything would go to me and there wouldn't be anyone who could object to that since she didn't have any children. She wanted to give me her name because it opened a lot of doors and she wanted to give me her fortune so she wouldn't have to worry about me. I wanted to refuse but she wouldn't take no for an answer and said it would stop her from worrying about me and enable her to fully concentrate on getting better so I caved like she knew I would. But she didn't react to the chemo like she was supposed to and two months after the adoption was final she died at the age of 75. That was six months ago." Joey finished her story with tears rolling down her cheeks. She had moved on as best as she could but it still hurt and she still missed Helen very much.

"Oh Jo. I'm sorry," Aden said while rubbing her back in a soothing way.

"It's okay. The sense of loss still creeps up on me and it overwhelms me some times, but most times I'm able to think about the good times we had together and how full of life she was."

"I know what you mean," he said with a sad smile. She gave him a confused look but didn't ask anything because he didn't look like he wanted to talk about it.

_Btw for a little preview of a new Summer Bay resident click the link on my profile. __He'll show up in one of the next chapters ;)_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N Ross doesn't have Alzheimer and Ross and Morag lived in the city while Joey was living with Charlie and Ruby but they moved back to the Bay when Ruby found out that Charlie wasn't her sister but her mother. They thought that by being close by they would be able to do some damage control._

Chapter three

Morag was still thinking about Joey when she walked into the living room where Ross, Charlie and Ruby were sitting. Ross who was attuned to his wife's moods picked up on her rather thoughtful frame of mind immediately.

"What's wrong honey? Didn't things go well with Aden?" He asked worried knowing his wife was fond of the young man.

"What? Oh no, Aden was fine. I met an old friend of his who just got back and he seemed really happy about seeing her again."

"Oh is that it? Aden's old girlfriend got back into town and you're jealous?" Ross teased. Morag chuckled at her husband's teasing and at the memory of Aden's comment as to why Joey wasn't interested in him.

"No, she's not interested in him because he wouldn't look good in a dress. But I was thinking about this friend of him though. She told us a bit about what happened to her after she left the Bay and I must say I'm impressed with her. She seems exactly the kind of friend Aden needs right now."

"That's good then isn't it? I think I would like to meet her since she seemed to have made an impression on my wife and we all know that that isn't an easy thing to do at all," Ross said grinning mischievously and looking at Charlie and Ruby for support.

"Don't look at me I'm staying out of this one," Ruby replied smiling.

"Me too," Charlie chuckled when her father turned to her.

"Hmm and you're easy to please right? However I'm sure you'll like her too and Charlie? I think you've met her before."

"I did? What's her name?"

"Joey, Joey Matthews," Morag replied which caused both Charlie and Ruby to look at her in shock and that didn't go unnoticed by Ross who started paying close attention to both girls.

'Joey? My Joey? But she said Joey Matthews not Collins so surely it couldn't be the same one. Oh get over yourself Charlie she isn't coming back. It's got to be a different Joey,' Charlie silently rambled to herself.

"Eh, I don't know a Joey Matthews," Charlie answered honestly cursing the slight trembling of her voice.

"But you do know a Joey Collins," Ruby added quietly.

"Yes, that's her, but it appears she goes by Matthews now." Morag replied.

Charlie looked at her in shock. Joey was back? And wait it was Matthews now? She was MARRIED?

"She's married?" Charlie asked her voice now trembling more than ever and the hurt obvious in her tone. 'How can she be married? She doesn't even like men in that way.'

"What? Oh, n…" Morag started to reply but was interrupted by Ross, who had noticed the hurt in his daughter's voice, asking:

"How did you meet this Joey?"

"I-I worked on her case," Charlie replied.

"She was in trouble?" Ross asked confused as to why both Charlie and Ruby seemed to be so shaken up about the return of Aden's friend Joey.

"Euh no she was assaulted and I helped her out," Charlie replied wondering if she should tell him the whole truth.

"And how did Ruby meet her?"

"She lived with us for a while," Charlie answered hesitating knowing her dad wouldn't approve.

"You let a victim of a case you were working on stay with you?" Ross asked disbelievingly.

"It was complicated okay. She didn't have anywhere else to go and that was kind of my fault so I asked her to stay with us for a while till she found a place of her own, but well we all liked her and didn't really want her to leave," Charlie said still hesitating if she should tell her dad the whole story.

"Yeah dad. It was really great having Joey around. We all really loved her," Ruby piped up looking at Charlie when she said 'loved' to encourage her to tell the whole truth.

"Then why did she leave?" Ross asked feeling that they weren't telling him everything.

"Because of me," Charlie whispered with tears in her eyes. She knew that cheating on Joey was the biggest mistake of her life and she would never forgive herself for it because it had made her lose the love of her life.

"Because of you? Did you have a fight or something?" Ross asked.

"Yeah, or something. I-I loved her dad. I fell in love with her and she felt the same way, but I was scared of what people were going to think, what they were going to say. We were going to take it slow and come out when we were ready but Joey's brother filed a complaint and I was forbidden to go near Joey until the officer in charge cleared me. Needless to say the whole town suddenly knew, my car was vandalized and I just got scared so I went to the beach, got smashed and slept with Hugo. I cheated on her," Charlie whispered the last part and willed herself not to cry. She didn't have the right it was her own stupid fault she should have been smarter, braver. But she hadn't been instead she had let Joey believe that what everybody else thought was more important than Joey's feelings. Joey deserved so much better than her. She sighed and hoped her dad wouldn't react to badly to the news that she had been in love with a woman.

"Jesus Christ Charlie! Are you kidding me?" Ross began nearly yelling at her. Charlie flinched and braced herself for an angry rant.

"You loved her and yet you cheated on her because you were scared? How could you do that knowing how much it hurts getting cheated on," Ross said his voice laced with disappointed remembering the times when Charlie herself was cheated on and how hurt she had been by it.

"You're not angry or disappointed or disgusted that I was in love with a woman?" Charlie asked confused because she had been so sure that her dad would have reacted disappointed if he ever found out.

"No Charlie of course I'm not. I'm not a homophobe! Ok, I didn't really expect it but as long as you're happy it doesn't matter to me. I love you I could never be disgusted by you, but I am disappointed. No not because it's a woman but because you cheated. I never expected you could do that to someone, Charlie."

"I know," Charlie whispered the tears that she had tried so hard to keep from falling, fell anyway which caused Ruby to hug her mother tightly and whisper words of comfort in her ear.

Ross and Morag looked on at the endearing scene playing out in front of them. Despite Charlie's distressed state it was heartwarming to see mother and daughter act so lovingly towards one another especially considering their fall out when Ruby found out that Charlie was her mother and not her sister. During those rough months Ross had feared that that was the end of his once tight knitted family since it didn't look like Ruby was ever going to forgive them. They even moved back from the city because of it, but eventually Ruby came around just like Morag had said she would and started to talk to him and Charlie again. It had been strained at first but they had pulled through and he liked to think that their bond was now stronger than ever.

"I'm sorry I upset you Charlie, but I'm glad to see you girls like this. For a while there I was scared that it would never again be like this."

Charlie had stopped crying, but was still in Ruby's arms since the latter didn't want to let go just yet.

"Me too. I'm sorry I was just hurt and upset but I still loved you and Charlie," Ruby said quietly.

"I know honey and I wasn't blaming you. I'm just glad we survived it. But back to the subject at hand. Did you know about all this Ruby?" Ross said gently.

"Yeah dad, I knew. I caught them kissing and I wasn't really enthusiastic at first because well it's Charlie and she just wasn't gay what with all the boyfriends and all."

"Hey!" Charlie protested halfheartedly because she knew Ruby had a point but despite all the previous boyfriends none of them had made her feel what she felt with Joey and everyone that came after Joey hadn't been able to achieve that either.

"You know it's true Charlie," Ruby teased before going on. "But once I saw them together and how happy Joey made her I was okay with it. I mean Joey's great and she made Charlie open up and laugh more so I really didn't have a problem with it.

Ross had listened intently and asked Charlie the most important question of the evening: "Charlie? Do you still have feelings for Joey?"

_There will be some Charlie/ Joey interaction in the next chapter_


	4. Chapter 4

_Thanks for reading and for reviewing the story! As promised a chapter with some Charlie/ Joey interaction. Hope you'll like it._

Chapter four

Charlie sat on the beach recovering from her early morning run and thinking about the conversation that had taken place the day before. She couldn't be more happy that her father had reacted so positive, but she was disappointed with herself because she hadn't had more faith in him. In retrospect the only ones that had reacted badly were Trey Palmer who was an ass, Brett who was homophobic and Colleen because she couldn't get her head around the whole girl on girl thing. The rest of the Summer Bay residents had been shocked but hadn't reacted badly. She sighed if she had known that then maybe she and Joey would still be together. Maybe they would even live together with Ruby in a nice house and Joey would work on boats while Charlie made sure Summer Bay was safe from sharks and crazy psychopaths and they would be happy. Together. Charlie shook her head as if she wanted to shake the image out. 'You shouldn't be thinking like that Charlie,' she scolded herself. 'It only leads to pain and hurt. Joey might be back but you don't even know if she wants to see you, or how long she'll be staying. For all you know she was just visiting Aden and has already left again.' Charlie sighed. No, she shouldn't be thinking about Joey, but then again that's what she had told herself for these past two years and it didn't seem to be helping. She got up, stretched a little and started running again. She decided that since she had gotten up early today she could extend her run this morning. Maybe if she drove herself to the brink of exhaustion all thoughts of Joey would vanish from her brain. Not likely but she was still going to try.

Meanwhile not that far from where Charlie was sitting Joey was standing on the wharf waiting for three of the most important things in her life. She didn't have to wait long cause she hadn't been even there for three minutes before she heard a dog bark enthusiastically and a female voice trying to calm the dog. She looked to her right and smiled when she saw her beautiful yacht moor. Her smile got even wider when the overly excited dog leaped of the yacht and jumped her.

"Easy boy, easy," Joey said between fits of giggles while the dog licked her face. The dog listened to her and backed of a bit.

"Good dog, Bandit. Good dog."

Joey heard Amanda laugh when she said the dog's name and she couldn't help but grin herself when she thought about how Helen had reacted to the dog's name. When she told Helen that she wanted to adopt the police dog that had bitten an agitated drug dealer in the ankle during a police raid the older woman had supported her and said she should go for it. She had even offered to help come up with a name for Joey's new dog and had continued to offer up some respectable dog names like Max and Wallace. But Joey had thanked her and said it wasn't necessary since she had already found the perfect name for the dog. When Helen had asked her about this perfect name Joey had answered that the dog was to be named Bandit which had caused Helen to burst into laughter. Joey, confused but happy that Helen was laughing because she hadn't really done that anymore since she had gotten sick, had asked her what was so funny and Helen had answered that she thought it was hilarious that a cop would want to name her dog Bandit. Joey had smiled, shrugged and said that it was a name that suited the goofy looking dog and when Helen had seen the dog she agreed but couldn't stop herself from dissolving into giggles once more which Joey hadn't minded one bit.

Bandit's bark jolted Joey out of her memory. She smiled and petted the dog on his head.

"I missed you, boy."

"God, The dog gets more attention than me. I mean I would get it if the boat got more attention, after all it is a beauty but the dog? Really? He isn't even all that handsome," Amanda said pretending to be upset. Joey smiled and hugged her.

"Oh now she hugs me. After the dog jumped her," Amanda said keeping up the charade while hugging back.

"I missed you too Amanda. I trust everything was okay on board the Semper Fidelis?"

"Yes, it was Josephine and before you ask the bike should be here by five pm."

"Amanda, must you call me Josephine? It's annoying."

"I know why do you think I like calling you that," Amanda answered with a big grin. "Now if you don't mind I would like to go and get some sleep since you wanted us here by 6h30 in the morning! I didn't get nearly enough beauty sleep."

Joey nodded and said: "Okay, I'm going to go for a walk with Bandit first and will leave him with you when I go to work."

"When do you have to go in?" Amanda asked already walking towards the beach house.

"Around 10 am so don't worry plenty of time," Joey answered and began walking the dog. She decided she would take the dog for a walk by the beach. She enjoyed the sounds of the waves and the birds and she loved the fact that they had the beach all to themselves. At least that was what she thought until Bandit got excited again and pulled the leach hard enough to escape Joey's grip. Bandit began sprinting towards a woman who appeared to be running.

"Bandit!" Joey yelled but could only watch when Bandit leaped up and jumped the woman.

"Oh God," she muttered and began running towards her disobedient dog and his victim.

"I'm so so sorry," Joey said while pulling the dog off of the woman.

Joey was shocked to see that it had been Charlie that Bandit had plowed over and then she felt stupid because for a second there she was jealous of her dog who had gotten to jump Charlie.

"Oh God Charlie, I'm really sorry. He doesn't normally act this way," Joey rambled while helping Charlie to her feet.

She was able to really look at her now and was unsurprised to see that Charlie was still beautiful. Her stunning blue eyes were still mesmerizing, her body was still toned, her long hair still looked soft and her lips still looked sinfully kissable. It was in that moment that Joey realized two things: one she had forgiven Charlie and was able to look her in the eyes without feeling anger or hurt and two she had missed her so much it was hard to believe she was able to breath for two years without seeing her. Joey decided that this time she was going to keep Charlie in her life and since Charlie had surely moved on from her she was going to keep Charlie in her life as a friend and sadly nothing more.

Charlie for her part just stared at Joey in shock. This wasn't the way she imagined it would go when she finally saw Joey again. She hadn't expected the excited goofy looking dog to be the main reason they had bumped into each other, but nevertheless she was grateful. Her eyes travelled up and down Joey's body and she felt relief flood her senses. Whenever she had thought about Joey and where she was now she had been scared, scared that Joey had changed and wasn't the same anymore. But now she could see that she was still the same Joey. She was still gorgeous, her big brown eyes still had that twinkle in them and the best part of all was that she was smiling that priceless Joey-smile.

"Hi Charlie. I'm sorry about Bandit," Joey repeated still smiling sweetly.

Confused Charlie asked: "Bandit?"

"The dog," Joey said pointing to the border collie that had tackled her just a few moments before and was now eagerly licking her hand.

"Oh right," Charlie felt herself starting to blush. "It's okay. No harm no foul." If she was honest the moment she had lain eyes on Joey she had forgotten about the dog, the world and everybody in it except for Joey.

"That's odd. He doesn't normally take to strangers that fast. I guess you're special," Joey said smiling again. Before it hit her that Charlie could take that statement entirely different than she had meant it. Her smile faded and was replaced with a look of panic.

Charlie understood that she was looking at her in that way because the statement hadn't meant what Charlie wanted it to mean. She was dying to ask Joey if there would ever be a chance that she would be able love her again, but she didn't have the courage. She was afraid again only this time it wasn't because of the town's possible negative reaction but because of Joey's possible and understandable negative response. She was terrified Joey would reject her and she was sure that she wouldn't be able to handle that. She wanted Joey in her life. No she needed Joey in her life and she was going to do everything it took to not chase Joey away so she decided she would take the high road and not put Joey in an uncomfortable position by confessing her love. She would gladly accept every friendly gesture Joey offered her and be friendly in return but she wouldn't bother Joey with her feelings knowing that Joey would have moved on from her terrible cheating ex. So she smiled at Joey reassuringly trying to convey that she understood that Joey hadn't meant it the way it had sounded.

"Yeah, I guess I'm popular with dogs," she joked.

Joey grateful that Charlie hadn't made the situation even more awkward smiled and answered playfully: "I'll remember that when I need someone to watch him."

There was a beat of silence between them that had the possibility to become extremely awkward unless one of them spoke up so Joey asked: "How are you Charlie?" And then cringed at the over cheerily tone, but luckily Charlie didn't seem to notice or simply ignored it.

"I'm good and you? Do you have a place to stay?"

"I'm great and yes I do. I'll invite you, Ruby and Leah over some time. Then maybe they could meet Bandit here and we could all catch up?"

"I would like that very much. Thanks." Charlie's watch beeped and she wanted to groan. Uggh unbelievable that she was expected to go to work after seeing Joey again. It was so unfair! She just wanted to stay with Joey forever and never leave her side again! Was that to much to ask? She sighed.

"I'm sorry but if I want to be on time for work I'm going to have to leave now."

"That's okay. Wouldn't want the senior constable to be late now would we. We'll catch up another time and I'll ring you about dinner. Do you still have the same number?" Joey asked still smiling that beautiful smile.

"Yeah I do. I'll look forward to hearing from you again. I'm glad you're back," Charlie said and walked toward her house.

'I hope you'll still feel that way after this afternoon,' Joey thought while continuing her walk with Bandit.


	5. Author's Note

Firstly I wanted to thank everyone who has read my story.

But I'm afraid I have some bad news. I won't be continuing this story any time soon, because I lack the time and have discovered that I lost all my notes regarding where I wanted to take the storyline. So 'The Case' will be on an indefinite hiatus.

It's a possible that I continue this story some time in the future when one or both of my other stories are finished, but till then it is on a hiatus.

Thank you again and I'm really sorry!


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